Under The Big Top
by The-Wicked-Have-More-Fun
Summary: Lea, the Juggling Flurry of Fire. Natasha, the Harmonious Frost Sovereign. Two complete opposites who are the world to each other. She cools his firey nature and he melts her icy exterior. But passion can so easily morph to burning rage...-Axel origin-


"_Ladies and gentlemen, now for the act you've all been waiting for, especially you ladies out there_!" The shrill squeals of hundreds of teenage and prepubescent girls echoed and amplified in the huge tent. Even a few older women clapped louder than their husbands. "_WDP Circus is proud to present Lea and Natasha,  
The Juggling Flurry of Fire and The Harmonious Frost Sovereign_!" The Ringmaster quickly departed from center stage as the lights dimmed and a single spot light illuminated a spot in the center of the ring. A hushed silence feel over the crowd as they watched, hunched forward in their seats waiting for something to happen. The seconds trickled by and still nothing. A few anxious girls squirmed in their seats.

A shrill note played on a flute pierced through the still inside the tent and a rush of icy air blasted through the crowd. In the center of the ring of light there was an explosion of smoke and fire. Flickers of red, yellow and orange licked at the smoke as two dark silhouettes took shape. Another sharp note and the smoke dissipated immediately, as if obeying the flute player's high-pitched commands. Standing back to back, bathed in the white light, were a man and a woman. The colors of the light changed quickly, the male's half fixed to red and the female's a vivid blue.  
The woman held her gleaming silver flute to her lips and played a soft melody.

She was an elegant-looking young lady; tall as her partner and slim her shimmering silver and blue which looked more suited for a concert hall than a circus big top. Her hair, straight and flowing to her waist, shone bright blue in the light that washed over her. Her fingers danced lightly across her flute, her eyes gently closed.

Her partner was a stark contrast to the woman's elegance. His chest and feet were bare, revealing thick black tattoos snaking around his upper arms and wrists. His face was marked by two small green diamonds just below his eyes on either cheek. He was thinly built, with long, spiky red hair flowing over his shoulders and down his back. His black jeans, the only clothing he seemed to be wearing, fit snuggly around his wide hips. Slowly, he lifted a polished silver chakrams gripped tightly in his right hand to next to his handsome face. It glinted blood red under the lights and caught his reflection as his forest green eyes scanned the crowd. A mischievous smile played across his face and the female population of the audience squealed in unison.

The young man stepped out of the red spotlight and grinned at the crowd, his gaze moving around the tent. The lights in the tent brightened slightly, just enough to keep the performer in sight of the audience. It was then he finally spoke, his voice amplified by the small microphone taped to his cheek. "I hear you folks came to see me. Did I hear right?" A chorus of cheers and screams echoed back at him. "What? I don't think I quite caught that. I said, are you here to see The Juggling Flurry Fire?!" Even louder squeals, screams and cheers.

"Now, Lea," The woman lowered the flute and turned around to take a step toward the juggler. The light brightened further and the red and blue spotlights faded. In the normal lighting the frosty woman's hair was a rich honey blonde. Her voice was low and slightly husky, heavily accented with Russian. "Do not be the egotist. These kind people," Her ice blue eyes looked around and audience as a smile played across her glossed azure lips. "Came to see the circus. Not just your large head."

The man, Lea, staggered back and clutched his chest dramatically, as if she'd stabbed him. Lea had always been famous for his dramatics. "Natasha! You always know how to cut straight to the heart!" He looked back to the crowd, his jaw tightly set. He gestured to the Russian beauty, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye. "Natasha Ozerov, The Harmonious Frost Sovereign, everybody!" He grinned and lowered his voice to a whisper, as if telling a secret to the crowd. "You know, she's really an exiled Russian princess." With a grin he began telling her story, all the while juggle the two sharp-looking silver chakrams he held in his hands.

Natasha rolled her eyes and shook her golden tresses with a smile. All the main performers of the circus had their own character stories. She was the icy Russian princess forced into exile by her elder sister, in hiding from assassins by working in the circus. In truth she was from a well-to-do family from St. Petersburg. Lea was the bad boy street performer who ran away from home to join the circus at a young age. Out of all the performers, his story was the only true one.

As Lea went on the his story, his blonde partner set down her flute on a crate and picked up three orbs make of frosted glass about the size of tennis balls. She began doing various tricks with the orbs as soft, almost serene music began to play. Her slender hands moved expertly, weaving the orbs around her hands and through her fingers. While he spoke, the redhead watched her out of the corner of his eye. He abruptly caught all three of his chakrams in his left hand and set them down on the ground. He turned and gave Natasha an irritated look. "Trying to steal my spotlight again, 'Tasha?"

Natasha shot him an icy look, not one stopping in her graceful movements. "I am simply giving the people what they want. After all, it is such a warm night and why would they want humid when they can have chilly?"

A grin twitched as Lea's lips as he darted to the crate where Natasha had gotten her props. He withdrew three unlit torches, a small water bottle and a lighter. "Well, I'm sure they wouldn't if they knew how hot you were in other areas of expertise." The woman fumbled with her orbs, shooting Lea a furious look. One of the glass balls fell from her hand but her hand darted down and caught it. Her cold eyes stared fiercely at her partner with genuine fury as she carelessly dropped the orbs into the crate and took out three larger ones the size of baseballs.

Ignoring her stabbing glares, Lea laughed to the audience. "Let's really get this party started, huh?!" He pulled the top off the water bottle and took in a mouthful. Flicking the butane lighter to life and holding up the torches away from his body, a long stream of fire seemed to erupt from his mouth and light the torches.

While the onlookers gasped and squealed in awe, Natasha rolled her eyes and said in a deadpan tone, "Show off." Lea only grinned and began juggling the flaming torches at breakneck speed, his hands hardly visible as they moved. The Russian beauty remained unimpressed and tossed one of her orbs at him. He caught it easily and juggled it along with the torches. Another glass ball came at him with the same result then finally the third and the Juggling Flurry of Fire was combining elements of fire and ice in his routine.

Natasha moved quickly five feet from Lea just as one of the flaming torches came flying at her. She snatched it easily and tossed it back at him. One of her frosted orbs came next and that was tossed back at Lea. Soon they were juggling together, tossing the torches and orbs back in forth in an elaborate display.

It was after a few minutes of this that Lea caught all three of his torches and Natasha had her orbs that the redheaded fire breather shot the crowd a winning smile. "Fire over ice, got it memorized?!" From his pocket he pulled out a small smoke bomb and smashed it on the ground, causing an explosion of smoke. When it cleared, the partners had vanished.

"I hope you know that remark you made was unnecessary." Natasha grumbled as she stormed out of the tent into the warm night. Lea was practically on her heels.

"Aw c'mon, 'Tasha, I was just giving the crowd what they want. That tension you gave off was fantastic." The redhead laughed and wrapped his arms around her waist in a sudden embrace, pulling her slender form close up against him. "Besides," His lips brushed her ear as he whispered in a low voice. "You know it's true…"

Natasha sighed warily and turned to face him, her arms snaking around his neck. "You're impossible, Lea…"

"But you love me for it, admit it."

"Humph, intolerably so." She kissed his cheek, leaving behind a blue imprint of her full lips. "I am going to get changed. You will not sneak in again to watch." She released him and spun out of his grip, talking long strides in the direction of her trailer. Lea's hand shot out and smacked her butt just as she spun around and the back of her hand made contact with his cheek.

The Juggling Flurry of Fire only grinned, touching his cheek lightly as his Russian princess stormed away. "Damn, I love that woman."

* * *

Yup, folks, it's an Axel origin story. I had this idea a few weeks ago and just had to write it down. There is another chapter coming, so wait it out until inspirational lightning strikes again.

Lea (to an extent)and Natasha are mine.

Kingdom Hearts belongs to Square Enix.


End file.
